Why Take a Taxi? Queue Up for the Bus!

"Um, I'll take this Spirit Artifact Longsword." Lin Li pointed at the discounted item on the display case in front of him, priced at 499,999 yuan.

The pretty saleswoman in the cheongsam hadn't expected that after her nonstop spiel for over ten minutes, the customer would end up choosing the cheapest discounted item in the store. A hint of disappointment crept into her heart.

Still, she was a seasoned veteran who'd weathered many battles. She didn't let that disappointment show on her face, instead keeping a bright smile as she nodded at Lin Li.

"Of course, sir. Please wait a moment while I write up the order for you."

Lin Li watched the pretty saleswoman turn to process his order, and he let out a long, quiet sigh of relief.

If this weapon shop hadn't had that one discounted item, with his budget of just 500,000 yuan, he wouldn't have been able to afford any of the Spiritual Energy weapons in the store at all.

A moment later.

"Welcome back anytime." After paying, Lin Li walked out of the weapon shop carrying a long wooden box, seeing off the pretty saleswoman as she saw him to the door.

"Damn, cultivator weapons are way too expensive! Now that I've bought this Spirit Artifact Longsword, I'm practically broke."

With his entire net worth reduced to just 3,070 yuan left in his WeChat account, Lin Li's face was full of bitterness as he left the weapon shop. And on top of that, he still had things to take care of today.

Half an hour later, Lin Li walked out of a pharmacy with a blank expression.

Hunting beasts in the wild required not just a Spiritual Energy weapon, but also medicine for treating injuries.

It seemed like anything related to cultivators came with a hefty price tag... Lin Li had bought a small tube of hemostatic ointment popular among cultivators, known for its quick blood-clotting effects.

That tiny tube, weighing only about thirty grams, had cost him 3,000 yuan—roughly 100 yuan per gram.

After buying that hemostatic ointment, Lin Li's entire fortune now amounted to just 70 yuan.

Just a few days ago, he'd had a million yuan in his pocket, and now he'd fallen to this state. His heart felt ice-cold.

"Whoosh..."

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

A gust of wind blew, shaking the leaves of the roadside trees and sending a soft rustling through the air.

Raindrops falling from the sky were scattered by the sudden wind, drifting in all directions.

Some of the rain splashed onto Lin Li's face, a cool sensation that lifted his spirits just a little from their low point.

"This is all necessary upfront investment. In the future, I'll earn back every single one of that million I spent, and then some."

Lin Li gave himself a mental pep talk, opened his umbrella, and started walking off into the distance, planning to hail a cab home.

But just as he took a few steps, he suddenly changed direction and headed toward the distant bus stop.

With only 70 yuan left to his name, what was he doing taking a taxi? He'd line up for the bus instead!

"Click."

"Thud."

Back home, Lin Li set his wet umbrella out on the balcony to dry.

Then he returned to the living room and opened the wooden box holding the Spirit Artifact Longsword.

"499,999 yuan—you'd better perform well for me tomorrow!"

Lin Li picked up the 80-centimeter-long Spirit Artifact Longsword from the box and, putting on a show, slowly waved it around the living room.

After a few swings, he began channeling his Spiritual Energy into the sword.

The Spirit Artifact Longsword, infused with Spiritual Energy, glowed with a Pale Gold Spiritual Light, and he could faintly sense its sharpness had risen a notch.

"Good sword! A truly fine sword!" Lin Li nodded in satisfaction at the discounted item glowing with Pale Gold Spiritual Light in his hand, his confidence in tomorrow's beast-hunting plan soaring.

But within a minute, Lin Li stopped channeling more Spiritual Energy into the sword—continuing like this would drain too much Spiritual Energy.

Some beast hunters in the wild only infused their Spirit Artifact Longswords with Spiritual Energy during combat; no one was foolish enough to burn through half their Spiritual Energy before a fight even started.

He put the discounted item back into the wooden box, then leaned back and collapsed onto the soft sofa.

Pulling out his phone from his pocket, he downloaded an app, registered an account, and logged into the platform—one that only those with a Beast Hunter License could access.

The app's interface was very simple, with just two sections: an intelligence section and a discussion section.

The intelligence section's content was posted by the Beast Hunter Guild, while anyone could post in the discussion section.

"On the outskirts of Rong City's eastern district, near Liu Family Village, a Wild Dog Beast with First-Order High Stage strength has been spotted."

"On the outskirts of Rong City's southern district, near Zhao Family Village, a Boar Beast with First-Order Peak strength has been spotted."

"On the outskirts of Rong City's western district, about 5 kilometers from Two Immortals Bridge, witnesses have reported seeing an unknown number of Forest Wolf Beasts."

"On the outskirts of Rong City's northern district, a Black Bear Beast with Second-Order Early Stage strength appeared yesterday at 3 PM, about 7 kilometers from the Abandoned Parking Lot."

Lin Li scrolled through the intelligence section, finding that the wilderness beyond the city was teeming with countless beasts.

The more he read, the more alarmed he became. The danger of the wilds was far worse than he'd imagined.

No wonder the authorities constantly warned city residents to stay away from the wilderness outside the city unless necessary.

Every single piece of intelligence about beast sightings in that section proved just how right those daily warnings were.

"All the beast intel on this board starts at First-Order High Stage? Isn't there anything lower than that?"

After browsing the intel board for over ten minutes, Lin Li noticed this strange situation.

He thought it over and guessed the reason might be that Beast Hunters were at least at First-Order Peak.

So any intel on beasts below First-Order Mid Stage simply wasn't included on the board.

Done with the intel board, Lin Li clicked on the discussion board. The posts here were dozens of times more numerous than those on the intel board.

"Sharp Sword Squad recruiting, brothers with awakened abilities get priority..."

"Dawn Squad recruiting, handsome guys and pretty girls get priority..."

"Titan Squad recruiting, strong and sturdy men get priority..."

"Mala Tang Squad recruiting, brothers who love spicy hot pot get priority..."

"Thunderclap Squad recruiting, brothers who enjoy foot baths get priority..."

What the hell is all this?

Lin Li scrolled through dozens of posts and found they were all recruitment threads. It gave him the same feeling as browsing a game forum.